"Oh look, you've decided to join me. Must be a special occasion for Pierce Holmes to share a meal with his mother."

Pierce glanced up at the blonde sitting at the kitchen table before turning to grab himself a drink.

"Always a pleasure to see you too, Rita." Pierce said holding his glass of water in his hand as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

His mother peered at him from behind her dark frames, her green eyes slightly glaring at him. He smiled at her.

"I heard your father canceled on you again." she said turning away from him and returning to her meal.

Pierce's smile faded from his face.

"Did you hear it through the grapevine, like you hear all of your information?"

She looked up at him again. "No. He sent me an owl himself, saying he was so caught up with cases. Shocker." she said before placing a cherry tomato in her mouth, returning the gesture with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Well it's not much of a shocker, really." Pierce said, placing his glass down. "I'm used to my parents disappointing me."

Rita Skeeter quit chewing her food for a moment as her chipped fingernails drummed against the table. 

"You better watch that tone of yours, Pierce."

"Or what? Are you going to write a nasty article about me? That would be a poor reflection on you as a parent though. You wouldn't want that now, would you?"

"You're an ungrateful brat, you know that?"

"Well, I must have learned it from somewhere and since I've been forced to be around you my entire life...I think you get my point."

"You can forget about having dinner with me." she told him.

"Oh no, I thought we were having a good time." 

She collected her food and left the room with her notepad in hand and her annoying little quill following her around like a dog.

Pierce sat down at the kitchen table after hearing his mother's door slam close down the hall.

He hated his mother and their relationship was completely hostile and beyond repair. Most days Pierce didn't understand why his mother didn't just give him up or let him leave. He would do anything to escape his parents and their neglectful ways. Both parents always managed to put work before their son. His father took on cases and his mother put her poison-pen stories before him.

People hated his mother too, especially when it came to the articles she wrote about people. She was nasty and a horrible gossip queen. Which was why Pierce didn't care to associate himself with his mother, especially when it came to school. His friends didn't know much about his home life and he planned on keeping it that way.

He was certain if anyone found out that his mother was Rita Skeeter, he wouldn't have as many friends. He was sure no one would speak to him in fear that his mother would probably put it in an article of hers.

His father wasn't as bad as his mother when it came to nastiness, in fact Mr. Holmes wasn't a nasty person, he was just too involved with his work to care for the fact that he did indeed have a son. During times where Pierce did have the opportunity to spend time with his dad, he really ended up spending it with his father's partner, Watson.

It had left Pierce bitter with his family. He offered no respect to them when he spoke, they didn't deserve it in his opinion. His friends' parents showed him more affection than his own.

But that's what Pierce loved so much during his time at Hogwarts. It was escape from his family, and he was able to be surrounded by people who liked him.

The summer couldn't end soon enough for him. He was ready to go back to school.

Grabbing himself something to munch on, Pierce returned back to his room at the other end of the house and plopped down on his bed. He rested his head back on his pillow before turning his head and catching the picture resting on his nightstand. Picking it up, he smiled at the picture of his grandparents and him back when he was seven years old. He loved his grandparents, they were both so sweet and kind, he never understood how they had produced such concentrated evil that was Rita.

Unfortunately, as much as he loved them, they didn't live long after the photo had been taken. First Grandma Skeeter passed away in her sleep and then Grandpa Skeeter not too long after her. While Pierce attended both funerals along with his father and even Watson, his mother didn't show up to either and Pierce would never forgive her for that.

Some days he just wanted to run from his home. Find some wild adventure and live out his life happily, and he planned on doing it. The moment he became of age and graduated from Hogwarts, he would run and never look back.